The principal goal of this research is to clarify the structure and tectonic setting of the Southern Alaska and, specifically, the offshore area close to Kayak Island. Seismic reflection data collected in 1976 in the offshore region of Kayak Island in the Gulf of Alaska were reprocessed in order to improve the quality of the signal by applying seismic data processing techniques that were not available at the time in which the data were obtained. The processed data were then interpreted, focusing on identifying patterns that indicate the direction, as well as the intensity of deformation. The deformation pattern observed in this research suggests that the major deformation of the region is located at the northwest side of Kayak Island.

By understanding the normal humeral and scapular kinematics during the kayak stroke, inferences about the relationship of kayaking technique and shoulder injury may be established. The purpose of this study was to describe scapular and humeral kinematics and to compare dominant versus non-dominant symmetry in healthy whitewater kayakers performing the forward stroke. Twenty-five competent whitewater kayakers (mean age: 34.1±9.4 years, mean height: 1.768±0.093 m, mean mass: 78.2±13.0 kg) underwent humeral and scapular kinematic assessment, using an electromagnetic tracking device, while kayaking on a kayak ergometer. Paired t-tests were used to determine symmetry. Scapular and humeral kinematic means and standard deviations at six time points during the kayak stroke were described. Scapular and humeral kinematics were shown to be similar upon bilateral comparison. The greatest potential for injury during the forward stroke may be at thrust paddle shaft vertical when the humerus is maximally elevated in internal rotation and adduction as subacromial structures may be mechanically impinged. The relationship between scapulohumeral kinematics related to injury at other time points are also described.

Bakgrund: Det finns begränsat med forskning genomförd på sprintkanotister. De studier som genomförts rapporterade att ländrygg, bröstrygg och skuldra är de vanligaste skadelokalisationerna. Hittills har inte rapporterats hur skadorna påverkar träningsmängd och prestation. Syfte: Syftet var att kartlägga förekomsten av överbelastningsskador och dess påverkan på prestationsförmåga och träning för svenska elitsatsande sprintkanotister. Metod: En kvantitativ enkät användes för att genomföra en tvärsnittsstudie. Enkäter delades ut till 30 kvinnor och 42 män på en tävling som var uttagningsgrundande för landslaget. Enkäten som användes var en modifierad version av den svenska översättningen av OSTRC Overuse Injury Questionnaire. Datan analyserades med hjälp av statistikprogrammet SPSS där analysmetoderna Mann-whitney och Kruskall-wallis användes. Resultat: Totalt delades 75 enkäter ut och 72 svar kom in. Femtio (69%) kanotister rapporterade att de hade en överbelastningsskada. Den vanligaste skadelokalisationen var hand/underarm följt av skuldra, ländrygg och bröstrygg. Åtskilliga kanotister tränade trots överbelastningsskada och detta var mer vanligt bland kvinnor än män. Det fanns ett samband mellan mindre träningsmängd och mer smärta. Konklusion: En hög andel av kanotisterna rapporterade överbelastningsskador. Hand/underarm var den skadelokalisation som var vanligast bland kanotister medan ländrygg och skuldra var de som hade störst påverkan på träning och prestation. / Introduction: There is limited research on injury prevalence among sprint kayakers. The previous studies reported a high prevalence of overuse injuries located in the lumbar and thoracic spine and the shoulders. The injury impact on performance and training has not yet been reported. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of overuse injuries among elite sprint kayakers in Sweden and the impact of these on performance and training. Method: A quantitative questionnaire was used to perform a cross-sectional study. Questionnaires were distributed to 30 women and 42 men during a sprint kayak competition during wich the national team was to be selected. A modified version of the Swedish translated questionnaire OSTRC Overuse Injury Questionnaire was used. The statistic program SPSS was used for data analysis, and Mann-Whitney and Kruskall-Wallis were perfomed. Results: Seventy-five questionnaires were distributed and 72 kayakers responded. Fifty (69%) kayakers reported an overuse injury. The most common reported injury location was hand/forearm followed by shoulder, lumbar and thoracic spine. Several kayakers participated despite overuse injury, something which is more common among women than men. There was a correlation between less training hours and more pain among the kayakers. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of overuse injuries reported among the sprint kayakers. Hand/forearm was the most common location of injury among the sprint kayakers, while the lumbar spine and shoulders had the biggest impact on performance and training.

To date, most of the research on group cohesion has focused on team sports, with little known about how this body of knowledge relates to individual sports. The case of the male French whitewater slalom canoe and kayak team was chosen because of the success of the team at World Championships and Olympic Games. The purpose of the present case study was to investigate how the coaches and athletes of this highly successful team worked together in training and competition within a highly competitive environment. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six athletes and four coaches. Three themes, each containing numerous sub-themes, emerged from the analysis: (a) the nature of collaboration within the team environment, (b) coach leadership, and (c) the fragility of collaboration. The results of the present study have advanced our understanding of what collaboration within an individual sport team may look like. For a period of time, the leadership skills of the coaches, as well as their technical coaching expertise, and the willingness of the talented and driven athletes to work together, contributed significantly to a collaborative environment for this team. Then a change in the Olympic entry rules, the departure of an influential coach, and the inevitable change in the ages and experiences of the athletes themselves all combined to erode the foundation of that productive and collaborative environment.

To date, most of the research on group cohesion has focused on team sports, with little known about how this body of knowledge relates to individual sports. The case of the male French whitewater slalom canoe and kayak team was chosen because of the success of the team at World Championships and Olympic Games. The purpose of the present case study was to investigate how the coaches and athletes of this highly successful team worked together in training and competition within a highly competitive environment. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six athletes and four coaches. Three themes, each containing numerous sub-themes, emerged from the analysis: (a) the nature of collaboration within the team environment, (b) coach leadership, and (c) the fragility of collaboration. The results of the present study have advanced our understanding of what collaboration within an individual sport team may look like. For a period of time, the leadership skills of the coaches, as well as their technical coaching expertise, and the willingness of the talented and driven athletes to work together, contributed significantly to a collaborative environment for this team. Then a change in the Olympic entry rules, the departure of an influential coach, and the inevitable change in the ages and experiences of the athletes themselves all combined to erode the foundation of that productive and collaborative environment.

To date, most of the research on group cohesion has focused on team sports, with little known about how this body of knowledge relates to individual sports. The case of the male French whitewater slalom canoe and kayak team was chosen because of the success of the team at World Championships and Olympic Games. The purpose of the present case study was to investigate how the coaches and athletes of this highly successful team worked together in training and competition within a highly competitive environment. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six athletes and four coaches. Three themes, each containing numerous sub-themes, emerged from the analysis: (a) the nature of collaboration within the team environment, (b) coach leadership, and (c) the fragility of collaboration. The results of the present study have advanced our understanding of what collaboration within an individual sport team may look like. For a period of time, the leadership skills of the coaches, as well as their technical coaching expertise, and the willingness of the talented and driven athletes to work together, contributed significantly to a collaborative environment for this team. Then a change in the Olympic entry rules, the departure of an influential coach, and the inevitable change in the ages and experiences of the athletes themselves all combined to erode the foundation of that productive and collaborative environment.

The main purpose of this study was to develop and assess an on-land training aid for learning balance in sprint kayaking. The literature has shown the importance of biomechanical analysis and how training aids can provide a beneficial part in the learning process of new skills. An on-water experimental analysis was conducted on experienced paddlers to establish the kinematic characteristics and the centre of rotation position of the kayak-paddler system. From this analysis it was found that the kayak rolling motion is dependent on the paddler's ability and the centre of rotation of the kayak paddler system relative to the seat of the kayak was found to be between 10 cm - 13 cm above the seat. Findings from this analysis were interpreted into technical requirements and integrated into the design of the training aid. Once built the training aid prototype was evaluated by a series of testing and modification to enhance its ability to replicate the on-water kayak. The evaluation data showed that the stationary sprint kayak on-water medial-lateral rolling motion is affected by weight variations and further evaluation demonstrated that the training aid has the ability to replicate the motion for different weights. An experimental assessment on a group of beginners was carried out and the results showed that the training aid was able to facilitate the learning of balance in sprint kayaking. The experimental subjects who used the balance training aid had the same total number of sessions as the control subjects who learned to balance in the actual sprint kayak (experimental, 9 + 1 sessions; control, 9 + 1 sessions). However, the experimental subjects only spent half of the total number of sessions learning on-water (4 + 1 sessions) and the other half on the training aid (5 + 1 sessions).

To date, most of the research on group cohesion has focused on team sports, with little known about how this body of knowledge relates to individual sports. The case of the male French whitewater slalom canoe and kayak team was chosen because of the success of the team at World Championships and Olympic Games. The purpose of the present case study was to investigate how the coaches and athletes of this highly successful team worked together in training and competition within a highly competitive environment. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six athletes and four coaches. Three themes, each containing numerous sub-themes, emerged from the analysis: (a) the nature of collaboration within the team environment, (b) coach leadership, and (c) the fragility of collaboration. The results of the present study have advanced our understanding of what collaboration within an individual sport team may look like. For a period of time, the leadership skills of the coaches, as well as their technical coaching expertise, and the willingness of the talented and driven athletes to work together, contributed significantly to a collaborative environment for this team. Then a change in the Olympic entry rules, the departure of an influential coach, and the inevitable change in the ages and experiences of the athletes themselves all combined to erode the foundation of that productive and collaborative environment.

All forms of exercise equipment require a period of habituation in which individuals adapt to the novel movement required in operating the device and reach a point of physiological stability. During this adaptation period, physiological variables which indicate cardiopulmonary demand typically will change. In general, such changes are expected with devices that require complex movements. The influence of this habituation on physical performance is vital for establishing research methodology in which precise control of power output is necessary. The StairMaster® corporation has recently introduced the CrossRobics™ 2650UE (2650UE), an ergometer which simulates the kayak stroke pattern. In contrast to bicycle and arm crank ergometers, with which the user follows a set motion, the 2650UE allows the user to adopt a variety of movement patterns. To determine responses during habituation to the 2650UE, 14 female and 12 male subjects (18-32 years of age) were monitored during their first four exercise trials. Each session was 10 min long at a constant load of 0.36 watts/kg ± 0.02SD and 0.55 watt/kg ±0.02SD for female and male subjects, respectively. Significant differences (p<O.OOI) were found for V02, -.vO₂, -.vE, HR and RPE across the four trials, with decreases of 6.3% to 9.5% from the mean values in trial 1 to trial 2. Post hoc analysis indicates that a minimum of two 10 min practice trials are required for measures of oxygen consumption to stabilize, whereas one 10 min practice trial is required for measures of-.v E, HP and RPE to stabilize. / Master of Science

Les méthodes modernes d'entraînement utilisent des appareillages spécifiques appelés ergomètres sur lesquels, en particulier, des programmes d'entraînement et d'évaluation sont proposés par les entraîneurs. De tels dispositifs favorisent la continuité d'un entraînement pendant les périodes peu favorables à une pratique sportive. De même, lorsque ces outils sont instrumentés, ils apportent à l'entraîneur des informations difficilement accessibles en situation réelle de pratique. Ce travail s'inscrit dans cette problématique scientifique dont l'objet est la conception d'un ergomètre pour la pratique du kayak en ligne. Les travaux réalisés ont conduit à la conception d'un ergomètre kayak capable de reproduire les conditions d'une pratique écologique aussi précisément que possible tant d'un point de vue de la gestuelle (cinématique) que des efforts générés (dynamique) d'une part, de proposer et de valider une instrumentation afin de recueillir l'ensemble des efforts d'interaction kayakiste/ergomètre, d'autre part. De plus, cette instrumentation doit être suffisamment exigeante en termes de poids et d'encombrement pour être installée dans un kayak K1 pour réaliser des mesures in situ. Les moyens mis en œuvre donnent accès aux variables biomécaniques permettant de quantifier les éléments de base de la technique de pagayage qui constituent l'ensemble des facteurs déterminants de la performance (force, endurance, technique, etc.). Scientifiques et entraineurs ont ainsi à leur disposition un outil pour une évaluation objective des performances du kayakiste. Ce travail a été réalisé dans le cadre d'une collaboration entre l'axe RoBioss, le CAIPS et la société SENSIX. / The modern training methods developed during the last 20 years involve specific equipments named ergometer. These devices allow semi-specific training sessions on a sheltered environment to develop strength during unfavorable periods of in situ practice. They are also more and more used by coaches to evaluate athlete’s skills and aptitudes. Ergometers provide numerical information that cannot be easily measured during in situ sessions. This work is a significant contribution of the following scientific problems; firstly the design of a flat-water kayak ergometer that reproduces accurately on-water conditions, both kinematics and forces generated (dynamic) during the throughout the whole kayaking cycle, secondly, to propose and validate an instrumentation to collect every dynamic interactions between the ergometer and kayaker (hands, seat, feet). In addition, this instrumentation must be design in terms of weight, size and watertightness to be installed in a kayak K1 for in situ measurements. This instrumentation quantifies the basic biomechanics parameters of the kayaking performance such as external forces, endurance, technique, etc. As a result, researchers and coaches will be able to evaluate kayakers’ performance using an unbiased device. This work was conducted as part of a scientific collaboration between the RoBioSS research team, CAIPS and SENSIX compagny.